I was kinda taken with most of the images for this No Theme Thursday challenge but not enough by a single one to write anything deeply. So, I figured on some haiku form couplets for every picture instead.
Fourteen Postcards – 6th July 2025
Tag: No Theme Thursday
Hyde Park – 29th June 2025
It’s damp and dark,
walking here alone,
wandering Hyde Park,
far away from home;
Just wanting a hold,
anything that soothes,
feet freezing cold,
shuffling in wet shoes;
A future unclear,
a past to forget;
ending up right here,
rattled by regret;
Searching for arms
to comfort and explain;
thundering alarms,
continues the rain;
Wished to make a mark
before the end of days;
wandering Hyde Park,
lost in so many ways.
Shared with No Theme Thursday and using the picture above as inspiration, which looks a hell of a lot like Hyde Park in Sydney. The feelings expressed in this poem are not exactly mine, though and reflect recent conversations with teenage students searching for themselves and coming up short.
Sinking Sands – 15th March 2025
Washed up on the sandy shore, I am the debris
of all the bad decisions made with certainty;
it seems I’m not done, up ahead, the paths to choose;
so many losses to come, so much more to lose.
For every adventure approached at full throttle,
all ended the same, clutching an empty bottle;
last night’s enlightenment sought to confuse;
so many losses to come, so much more to lose.
In pursuit of fun, all the wasted time I spent
losing myself in dreams and repeated lament;
here I go again, sober and set to abuse;
so many losses to come, so much more to lose.
A 12-syllable Complaint shared with dVerse and No Theme Thursday picture prompt. The refrain was inspired and paraphrased from this post at Tiny Hearts, though I’m not sure exactly who originally penned it.
The Cooing – 10th March 2025
Why do they move in their metal boxes?
They don’t have wings? They can’t fly?
How do they find their way home
When they can’t view the whole sky?
Do they love and mate with just one?
Both taking care of their nest
What the hell are they doing before the sun
Sets each day in the west?
Why do they not eat the food they leave
For us to nourish and grow?
Sat pondering on the wire, we can’t believe
That they know something we don’t know
Inspired by an image from an old No Theme Thursday and a conversation between Amy and me, where we wondered about the birds nesting next to our house and I wondered what they were thinking about us.
A River Of Cliches – 5th March 2025
A young man, resting here weary
Ruminating possibilities and theory
With age, cliches come to mind
Once revelations, destined to find
Endless the water’s progression
Manifesting yesterday’s lesson
Never stepping in the same river twice
The path of least resistance, best advice
So pull yourself up by the bootstraps
Certainty has no time for perhaps
The cliche becomes the best insight
Rolling down the river, a delight
Shared with No Theme Thursday picture prompt, which brought to mind many cliches but then got me thinking about how when we are young those cliches are realisations and it is only in time that they become cliches. We have to discover them for ourselves first.
Charlie Zero The Poet Music picks & Reviews #13 and my quick thoughts:
William Basinski – Musically not my cup of proverbial. It seems there some story behind this work but I wasn’t inspired enough to find out more.
Helm – I like parts of this and overall it’s pretty interesting. With everything else available to listen to this won’t be making it to the try again pile though.
Matmos – I like Matmos. I like their vibe and style…. but in that cliched way “i like their old stuff better than their new stuff’
b e g o t t e n 自杀 – this intrigued me a little bit even though I’m not really into it. There’s definitely not enough guitars in today’s selection! 😄
Samiyam – definitely the most interesting to me out of this selection. In a different mood I might like this one.
SpaceBeat – 23rd February 2025
time and space make melodies
soulful sounds become sublime
beginnings of memories
ear-worm-holes of our spacetime
Shared with No Theme Thursday (picture prompt) and using the form Ae Freislighe:
- Quatrain stanzas (4-line stanzas)
- 7 syllables per line
- Lines 1 and 3 rhyme together, but they rhyme as three syllables (xxa)
- Lines 2 and 4 rhyme together as two syllables (xb)
- The final syllable, word, or line of the entire poem should be the same as the entire poem begins (the poetic term for this is dunadh)
It Was Told – 19th November 2024
Time out of mind, the rock of ages
The time of our lives was to be had
Foretold on ageing faded pages
Three heads good, foreheads bad
Sands a-trickle made to measure
Losing track as the dawn is cracking
Always racing towards some leisure
Begged and borrowed to be slacking
It’s up, beyond a blue moon hiding
To weave a future, past and pleasant
Dropped stitches will do their biding
When Nick manifests in the present
Shared with No Theme Thursday picture prompt (above) and Moonwashed Weekly Prompt – Foretelling
Queen Of Dreams – 11th November 2024
Holding your breath
Waiting for the turn
Hoping for the Queen of Dreams
with another lesson to learn
Rolling the dice
Waiting to settle
Dancing with the Queen of Dreams
with pedal to the metal
Playing the game
Waiting to win
Turning to the Queen of Dreams
without becomes within
Written for No Theme Thursday picture prompt (above) and Poets and Storytellers United – holding your breath
Today I’m feeling:
Pretty good despite a slightly disrupted sleep, which I’m thinking may be down to the two double-shot coffees I have on the weekends. I only have one on weekdays, so perhaps I need to switch back to the double-ris on weekends.
Apart from that, I’m still in a good mood and my classes have kept me busy and entertained all day.
Health:
Physical: 7
Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
Feeling energised and on top of things in my classes and doing all the things I needed during my 50-minute break.
The best thing about today was:
Feeling like an actual English teacher for a moment!
It’s weird to say but working more with some of the older students, who are more interested in actually learning and improving, has focused me a little more on teaching the language, more than just helping the students practice using language (by just reading and writing).
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I still have a problem with no classroom available to teach my afternoon grade 11s and today ended up in the canteen, which wasn’t exactly ideal but everyone got on with it as best they could and I wrapped up pretty quickly, giving the students work to send me before the weekend.
Something I learned today?
Ipswich won their first game of the season yesterday! Hooray! They beat Spurs away from home two-one. Amazing!
A Mad Man Made Man – 2nd November 2024
A
made man
comes apart,
seams unravelling
Bolts become unscrewed;
Filled full of dust and dirt
Electrical kickstarter
Blood pumped in from poison vials,
Eyes barely open to see machines
Clinging to this life for a madman’s dreams
Confusion reigns in this laboratory
there seems to be something in the air;
A sadness amongst the madness
Who is the real madman here?
A sigh, a final breath;
Living forever
is a fool’s game
Give it up
This dream?
Dead
Shared with No Theme Thursday and the attached picture prompt
Today I’m feeling:
A little slow to go this morning but my mind is clearing a little after two coffees.
Trying to catch up on reading poetry and it is a bit of a blur to try and comment after reading so much at one time. I can usually tell within a few lines if the rest is worth reading, though.
I plan to read more comics and books this afternoon, perhaps a little guitar action. Must try to avoid napping!
Health:
Physical: 7
Mental: 7
Today I’m grateful for:
Spending three hours at Utopia catching up on reading and doing a tiny bit of writing.
The best thing about today was:
Reading more of Bob Mortimer’s biography. I’m about halfway through now and enjoying the Englishness of his writing and humour.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I did succumb to lying down in the afternoon but stuck on some crazy music to listen to and that kept me from falling into too deep a sleep. I went to my room to play guitar after that and discovered that my fingers weren’t working properly, butchering songs that I usually enjoy playing. I need to practice more.
Something I learned today?
The word pogonip is a meteorological term used to describe an uncommon occurrence: frozen fog.
The word was coined by Native Americans to describe the frozen fogs of fine ice needles that occur in the mountain valleys of the western United States in December.
According to their tradition, breathing the fog is injurious to the lungs.
Stone Sirens – 20th October 2024
Why the angels are heaven-bound?
What purpose do they serve
When on earth there’s no sign to be found?
The witchcraft of man, made curious
The angel descends to earth
God’s breath drawn and furious
A silent walk through woods at night
amongst the garden flowers
Where beauty hides within plain sight
In thunder and a whirl of lightning flash
A metamorphosis into a siren
God’s wrath turns golden wings to ash
Unable to fly and then bound in stone
God sighs at the circle of life
The angel’s choice to die alone
Shared with No Theme Thursday picture prompt and The Sunday Whirl Wordle #675
(wordlist: witchcraft metamorphosis garden whirl woods fly siren sign breath stone circle why)
Today I’m feeling:
Good, though my neck is a bit creaky. As I looked into the bathroom mirror after getting up, I thought that I’m not doing too badly for my age. When I think about retirement approaching in the next decade, I can’t imagine it as I still feel fit and vital (at least this morning anyway!)
Last night Amy turned up the air conditioning, and I was freezing as I also had a fan on me. Once I woke up, I had to get going to warm myself up!
Two hours later, two coffees and two poems down and I’m feeling good. Today I must NOT nap! I have a plan!
Health:
Physical: 7
Mental: 8
Today I’m grateful for:
Amy always doing the washing up. It’s not that I don’t want to do it – I’m not allowed to do it! I’m not allowed in the kitchen in general and that suits me fine!
The best thing about today was:
Staying awake all day! Yay! Amy’s mum and dad came for lunch and stayed for a while afterwards, so I took the opportunity to get out to my room for a while, adding to the blog and playing a little guitar.
I came back in at around 3 pm and executed my plan to stay awake by bleaching my hair, which also meant that I couldn’t be in a lying position either, so I read a bit more of Bob Mortimer’s biography, which is thoroughly enjoyable.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I’m down to my last 1000 baht with another two weeks left before getting paid! Actually, I have some of this month’s pay saved in another account that I was hoping to put towards getting some new glasses. Looks like I’m going to have to dip into that, though.
Something I learned today?
I watched an interesting video about a homeless guy in Bangkok called Pichai who leaves weird mind map-style graffiti around the city.
He has something going on in his head but was an interesting character and his ‘art’ is fascinating to look at.
1994ever 